Need a Reference for All Those Couponing Terms? Get Help From This List of Coupon Abbreviations and Lingo.

There are so many coupon terms, couponing abbreviations and slang words used in the world of couponing that it can get quite confusing. These couponing terms and Coupon abbreviations seem like another language when you’re just starting out. What does it all mean?

We’ve put together an alphabetical list of most of the couponing terms and lingo associated with couponing. Checkout the Coupon abbreviations below.

Click on the letter to take you to that section or simply scroll through the page!

If you have any suggestions or questions on a Coupon abbreviations term that we have not covered, please feel free to mention them in the comments

$0.50/1, $1/1 – Fifty cents off one item, one dollar off one item, etc

$1/2, $2/2 – One dollar off 2 items, Two dollars off two items, etc

2/$1, 3/$1 – Two for a dollar, three for a dollar, etc

AC – after coupon

ALA – As Low As – Best case scenario, depending on which coupon you use and what the sale price is the price will be as low as…

ALL YOU – ALL YOU MAGAZINE full of Manufacturer coupons and great articles. This magazine comes out monthly and even has a list of the coupons with the page numbers they are on! NOTE: this magazine has been discontinued as of the December 2015 issue.

B1G1 – Buy one get one. Usually stands for buy one get one FREE but sometimes followed by other wording such as B1G1 50% off which means buy one get another at the 50% discount Coupon abbreviations

B2G1 – Buy 2 get 1. Same idea as the B1G1

Balanced Couponing – fraud (see also Glittering / Glitter couponing glitching and creative couponing) – A made up term to justify incorrect and fraudulent use of coupons. By exploiting Manufacturers’ coding format weaknesses and/or errors, coupons are abused by being used on items they are not meant for because they will scan at the register. (for example, Using a higher value coupon on a smaller or single item to get it for free) This may include use on improper sizes, forms, or products made by a manufacturer. This is NOT a proper way to use coupons. Please follow all restrictions in the wording of the coupons and product descriptions.

BB – Beauty bucks. Extra care bucks earned at CVS as part of the Beauty Club. Qualifying beauty purchases include items from the following categories: Cosmetics, Fragrances, Hair Care, Hair Color, Healthy Skin Care and Skin Care. Excludes items from Trial & Travel, gift cards and prescriptions. Beauty purchases made either in store or online with your ExtraCare®card qualify. Both full price and discounted items qualify.

Beep – Sometimes the register will beep when a coupon is scanned indicating that the computer is not auto deducting that amount. This indicates that the cashier may need to take action such as entering in the price.

Blinkie – Coupons dispensed from a small box strategically placed on store shelves near products. These dispensers usually having blinking lights, hence their name. Once you remove a coupon it then spits out another.

BOGO – Buy one get one. Another way of writing the B1G1 as stated above

BOLO – Be On the Look Out

Boost – Term made popular by the Hopster coupon site. Boosting a coupon means to increase the value of the coupon. (see Hopster below)

Breakdown or BD – the details of a coupon deal. When someone asks for a bd or breakdown, they are wanting the price, coupon used, where to find it, and the final price paid for an item purchased.

Bricks – in the coupon world this refers to a certain internet printable coupon that can be printed twice. The word “bricks” will be in the web address. Once you print, you can hit the back arrow on your browser and refresh to print your second coupon. Some bricks coupons are available by mail. Click help at the bottom of the bricks page and it will bring up a form if it is available to be mailed.

BRP – Balance Reward Points. Reward points earned at Walgreens drug stores that can be redeemed at register to pay for transaction.

BTFE – Box Tops for Education is a program to earn money for our schools, most popularly by collecting a small pink label from participating products. Schools can earn money by submitting these. The site also offers printable coupons .

BTW – By the way – Chat language usually used on comments and message board posts Coupon abbreviations

Bump – To comment or reply on a thread or post in order to move it to the top of the social group or forum.

Cartwheel – Target Discounts in the form of % off certain items. This can be used via Smartphone app or printing the list and barcode on paper. This can be used at Target stores as a discount in addition to both a manufacturer coupon and a store coupon. The % is calculated on the item price less any Target coupon but before the price is discounted by the manufacturer coupon.

Catalina/CAT – refers to a coupon from a machine next to the cash register that dispenses coupons after your cash register receipt prints. These can usually be used like cash on your next purchase. If they say “manufacturer’s coupon” you can usually use them at other stores.

CBAD – abbreviation for Chef Boyardee products

Checkout 51 – checkout 51 is a free cash back program. Earn cash back for purchasing certain products. Learn more

Check your binders – Usually used in conjunction with NLA, meaning that the coupon was offered at one time but is not available now so check the coupons you have in case you printed it in the past.

CNP – Coupon near product – similar to a blinkie but not from a machine

CO or C/O – cents off

Coupon – a document that can be exchanged for a financial discount, usually off a particular product

Coupon Angel – Someone who gives you coupons (for free)

Coupon Fairy – In the past this refered to someone who left coupons at the store near the appropriate product. This has evolved into meaning those who provide multiple inserts or specific coupons for a fee. (sellers)

Coupon Database– CDB – A database to search for a specific coupon or to find out if there is a coupon for a product or brand.

Coupons.com – Privately held company founded in 1998, offering printable coupons and other promotions.

Coupons.com Savings Club – In addition to the free coupons available, coupons.com had this paid service offering additional coupons for products we normally don’t see coupons for or higher value coupons than those available for free. Cost is approx $3/mo but they often have a 30 day free trial to try it out. They ended this program after only a little over a year.

Coupon Fairy – A person who leaves coupons in the store near products. Also refers to one who gives coupons to people in general. Recent references to coupon fairy has moved to referring to persons selling coupons.

Coupon Policy – The document and/or guidlines by which each store/chain follows regarding coupons. This will normally provide answers about coupon limit and what type of coupons a store will accept. Most have their rules posted online.

CPN – coupon – A voucher entitling the holder to a discount off a particular product.

CQ– Competitor’s coupon.

CRT – Cash register tape, usually used when discussing CVS coupons that print with receipt

Creative Couponing – fraud (see also Glittering / Glitter couponing and Balanced couponing) – A made up term to justify incorrect and fraudulent use of coupons. By taking advantage of Manufacturers’ coding format and/or errors, coupons are abused by being used on items they are not meant for because they will scan at the register. This may include use on improper sizes, forms, or products made by a manufacturer. This is NOT a proper way to use coupons. Please follow all restrictions in the wording of the coupons and product descriptions. Coupon abbreviations

DD – Dear daughter – Chat slang used on comments/message boards. Also means dead deal when an offer is no longer valid due to coupon expiration, coupon no longer available for print, or does not meet the terms of the sale or coupon. May also mean dumpster dive, as in rummaging through dumpsters or recycle bins to find coupons that others may have thrown out.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions. Question and answer to clarify details of a policy or program etc

FAR – Free After Rebate – The item will be free after you consider the price paid less the rebate you receive.

FB – Facebook – social media

Filler – Refers to an item purchased to comply with a coupon policy or a specific coupon. Some stores may require the count of individual purchased items to meet or exceed the number of coupons used. Also, filler items may be used to get the total up to a certain amount in order to use a dollar/percentage off coupon requiring a minimum purchase.

(i.e. $5 off your $50 purchase. If your total is $49, you need a filler item for at least a dollar)

(i.e. At Walgeen’s, you need to have as many items as you have manufacturer’s coupons and register rewards that you are going to be using to pay for the items. This means if you are buying 5 items and have 5 coupons and 1 register rewards that you want to use to pay for the transaction, you’ll need one filler item to get the total items up to 6. You can buy something as small as a piece of bubble gum as long as it rings up as a separate item.)

FS – Free Shipping – Refers to online store orders

FSOT – For sale or trade

FWIW – For what it’s worth. Chat lingo usually used in comments or forums.

GAF or GAB – Green Advantage Flyer or Green Advantage Buy flyer – Publix’s grocery flyer with sales and coupons (independant of the weekly sales ad). New one comes out every 3 weeks. Also called the green grocery flyer.

GC – Gift Card or Gift Certificate

GDA – Good Deal Alert

Glitch – an error or loophole in register scanning, price programming, coding on products or coupons, resulting in a price or outcome that is not intended by the manufacturer, store, or brand. Please note that advertising or taking advantage of these type of errors can and will eventually result in negative impacts to the companies and ultimately us, the consumers.Please do not support those who exploit these “glitches”, and who benefit from the negative impact it has on companies.

Glittering / Glitter Couponing – fraud (see also balanced couponing, glitching and creative couponing) – A made up term to justify incorrect and fraudulent use of coupons. By exploiting Manufacturers’ coding format weaknesses and/or errors (or glitches), coupons are abused by being used on items they are not meant for because they will still scan at the register. This may include use on improper sizes, forms, or products made by a manufacturer. This is NOT a proper way to use coupons. Please follow all restrictions in the wording of the coupons and product descriptions.

GM – General Mills, usually referring to the General Mills insert in the Sunday paper.

Groupon – Discount site that features daily bargains on things to do, see, eat, or buy

HBA – Health and Beauty Aids. Category of products or section of store related to non-food, including shampoo, lotion, etc

Hopster or Hopster coupon – Hopster offers printable manufacturer coupons. Coupons are available to print at the original offered value or you can “boost” the value higher by using points you earn on the site when performing small tasks (liking on Facebook, taking a poll, subscribing to newsletters, etc) Coupon abbreviations

HT – Hangtag – a tag hanging from an item that includes information and/or a coupon. Also sometimes referred to as a wine tag.

HTH – Hope that helps! Chat slang usually used on comments and message boards.

JFY – Just for you – Two common meanings – 1. The load to card coupon offers for Safeway card holders tied to their accounts that they can load to their card for extra discounts at the register. 2. The CVS “just for you” percent off purchase coupons that members receive, usually via email, that allows them to take an additional percent off all regular priced items they purchase in one transaction.

Matchups – A listing of available coupons that “match” the specific items listed, usually in a store sales ad, that can further reduce the purchase price.

MCR – My Coke Rewards. Enter in codes on their website from coke products in exchange for points to spend on prizes/coupons

MF / MFG / MFR – Manufacturer – Usually refering to a coupon offered by the product manufacturer as opposed to a coupon offered by the store Coupon abbreviations

MIR – Mail in Rebate – Offer that requires you to mail a completed form and usually a receipt and UPC proving you purchased a specific item in return for some amount of money back.

MobiSave – MobiSave is a cash back phone app where you redeem offers by selecting one or more of the many changing offers, submitting a picture of an itemized receipt that includes the offer purchased from any store, and getting that offer amount in your Paypal

MM – Money Maker – Refers to the total coupon value credit at register for a particular item being more than the original cost of the item.

PPFF – Paypal friends and family, payment method choice in paypal transactions. This method does not cost additional fees to the sender or receiver unlike payment to a seller for goods which charges the seller a fee. Transactions between buyer and sellers do not fit into the category of friends and family free transactions but often sellers will ask for that to avoid fees. The drawback is that there is no help with any claims if something goes wrong..

PQ or Printable – Internet printable coupon – print from your computer. Note sometimes PQ is also used as “publix coupon” for those who shop at Publix grocery

PSA – Price starting at – the lowest priced product

Publix – American supermarket chain founded in 1930 with stored operating in AL, FL, GA, SC, NC, and TN – more We post a number of Publix Couponing deals on TCC.

R – Regional – denoting a coupon or deal available in only a specific area

RAK or RAOK – Random Act of Kindness

RC – Rain Check – signed slip from store allowing an item to be purchased at sale prices in the future when item is no longer on sale. Received from store when the particular sale item is sold out at the time of your visit. Not all stores write RC’s Coupon abbreviations

Rebate – An offer by the manufacturer to try a product and then submit the proof (usually the UPC and/or receipt) to get all or some of the purchase price back. These can be MIR’s or or sometimes submitted online or via email.

RedPlum – see “RP” below

Rite Aid – Drugstore chain – largest on the East Coast and third largest in the US – more

ROFL – Rolling on floor laughing – chat lingo usually used in comments or message boards

Rolling – usually refers to the expiration date on a printable coupon that corresponds to a number of days after you print it. ( ie: If you print it today, the expiration will be sooner than if you print it tomorrow) Also may refer to using rewards earned in one transaction to pay for another transaction… rolling rewards.

Shelf Clearer – Term used to describe a person/couponer that buys all the products on the shelf. Not meant toward a person that buys the last several items but more for those that buy a very large quantity.

TY – Thank You – Chat lingo usually used in comments or message boards

UFT– Up for trade, used by someone wanting to trade specific coupons they have for some they don’t have.

UPC – Universal product code, bar code on product. Usually required to send with MIR or scan for Ibotta cash

Upromise – Upromise is an online cash back program that partners with many online and local retailers rewarding you for your purchases at stores, restaurants and gas stations. It also has monthly ecoupons for groceries and personal items to load to your store loyalty cards for which you will received deposits when redeeming at your store.

Walmart Savings Catcher – Part of the Walmart APP or use from your desktop. Scan Walmart receipts after purchase and it compares paid prices to competitor ads and gives you the difference on a store e-gift card. (check out our test trip and explanation here)

YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary, which means you may or may not get the same results at your store, depending on the coupon policy, your coupon value or how they interpret the coupon. Coupon abbreviations